NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After a 1-1 start over the first weekend of the season, the Vanderbilt soccer team is hard at work preparing for another challenging weekend ahead. The team heads up to New England this weekend to face teams from the ACC and Atlantic-10. On Friday, the Commodores will challenge Boston College at 6 pm CT. On Sunday, the Dores will do battle with Massachusetts at 11 am CT.

Head coach Darren Ambrose focused on possession and trying to get the team in a rhythm this week in practice this week.

“Really just trying to get into a rhythm, competing a little bit better,” said Ambrose. “Trying to develop a rhythm with the ball, a little bit of possession. Really just getting them to compete. On Sunday, I don’t think we competed really well so we raised the intensity level a bit which was really good.”

The Dores opened the 2017 campaign last Friday at home versus in-state foe Tennessee Tech. The game was deadlocked at zero through 90 minutes so extra time was needed.

In the first overtime period, freshman Madison Elwell gathered the ball on the left side of the field and sent a cross into the box. Jackie Welch beat her defender and the goalie to the ball and headed it into the net for the 1-0 overtime win.

On Sunday, the Dores traveled to Saint Louis to face the Billikens and for the first 25 minutes, both teams were held off the scoreboard. Saint Louis started the scoring off in the 26th minute and gathered another goal four minutes later to take a 2-0 lead. The Billikens added another goal in the second half to cap off the 3-0 win.

Scouting the Golden Eagles:

Boston College was selected 10th in the ACC preseason poll entering the 2017 season. The Golden Eagles finished last season with an 11-7-1 record and 3-7 in ACC play. They opened the season last Friday with a 4-3 overtime win on the road against James Madison. Then on Sunday, BC fell to William & Mary 3-1.

Olivia Vaughn leads the Golden Eagles in goals with three through the first two games of the season. Alexis Bryant started both games in net for BC and holds a 2.90 GAA through 186 minutes of play.

This will be the first time the Commodores and Golden Eagles have met on the pitch. BC is also the lone-ACC opponent the Dores will face during the non-conference schedule.

Scouting the Minutewomen:

Massachusetts was picked 12th out of 14 teams in the preseason poll by the Atlantic-10 coaches. They finished the 2016 season with a 3-11-3 overall record and 1-7-2 mark in A-10 play. They opened the season this past Saturday with a 3-0 loss to Central Connecticut State. The Minutewomen will play host to Stony Brook on Friday before their match on Sunday with the Commodores.

This will also be the first all-time meeting between the two schools. UMass will be the second of three Atlantic-10 teams the Dores will face this season.